Hi all, I have a female that has black gunk that just wont stop coming out of her ears, have tried everything and it just wont get right! Any suggestions??? Thanking all in advance.

Try flushing it out with 1/2 apple cider vineagar 1/2 water and really rub the outside of her ear to get all the stuff down deep. If she has any kind of cuts in her ear the cider will burn then i would use witch hazel. hopefully it is just a build up of yeast, if not you will need antibotics to get rid of infection.

What does your vet say?

Has the vet checked to determine if it is yeast or bacteria?

yeast is fungal and antibiotic won't do it.

The purple solution works great for yeast. My vet recommended using it 2x/week. Put a small amount in and leave it there. Clean the ear 1-2x/week on different days from purple solution (we use 1/3 water, 1/3 white viniger, 1/3 witch hazel for cleaning). It took about 6 weeks but cleared up our seniors ears and she has been good since.

16 oz. witch hazel
4 tablespoons Boric Acid Powder
16 drops gentian violet.

I think you can buy it already made at amazon.com or other sites.

We also scope the ears regularly to catch a problem in the early stages. Talk to your vet about scoping at home.

I used to use all those home made ear solutions but any more days, I buy Maleseb Flush at Revival. It doesn't irritate their ears, it suds up after you massage the base of ears for a couple minutes. Most times I only have to do this flush once a day for 4 or 5 days and the yeast infection is gone. Even if my dogs don't have an infection but just dirty ears, I flush their ears out good. Maleseb Flush is designed for Yeast infections.

Take her to the vet for sure as someone pointed out that you need to know whether it is bacterial or fungal.

Meanwhile, is she a black bitch? If so, ear wax is black and that is normal. A lot of people (including vets) see the black wax and assume it's an infection when in reality it is normal. Ear wax has antimicrobial properties and should be left in the ear - there is no need to clean it out. The black wax turns brown and sticky when there is an infection and there usually is an odor.

My philosophy is to stay out of the ears - I only clean the flap with a wet cloth if necessary. I leave the wax in the ear and I haven't had an ear infection in my Labs in years. The last time I had one, I treated both ears religiously with whatever the vet prescribed (sorry, I forget) for 4 weeks, then left the ears alone. The infection never came back. I think 2 weeks is not enough - the infection seems to recur if you only treat 2 weeks.

Hope it clears up fast for you!

"My philosophy is to stay out of the ears - I only clean the flap with a wet cloth if necessary." This may work for dogs that don't swim much or swim only in chloronated pools.

However, after swimming in any natural body of water they should always be cleaned out with witch hazel or something similar.

My dogs hunt so they swim in all kinds of muck and ponds and other bodies of water. Never in chlorinated pools. (No ducks there.) The ear wax prevents infection. No need to put anything in the ears - the natural protection works best and is already there.

Thick black 'gunk' screams more than ear wax to me.

I'd be thinking pseudomonas otitis. Recently had a rough case here with a neutered boy.

Treated with flushing with a rather 'new' ear wash (Tri Z Edta) and drops Baytril and Keto and oral prednisone, kicked it for good.